Sunday, November 4, 2012

Algerian soccer violence signals mounting discontent

An upsurge
in soccer-related violence in Algeria serves as a warning that 18 months after
the government quelled mass protests with increased wages and social spending
frustration is mounting with the failure of the country’s gerontocracy in control
since independence to share power with a younger generation, create jobs and
address housing problems.

In the
latest incident, the Kuwait news agency reported that dozens of people,
including a player, were injured this weekend when supporters of Jeunesse
Sportive de la Saoura (JSS) stormed the pitch during a premier league match in
their home stadium in Meridja in the eastern province of Bechar against
Algiers-based Union Sportive de la Médina d'El Harrach (USM). The incident
followed a massive brawl in September between players and between fans after a
Libya-Algeria Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.

Relations
between the two countries have been strained since Algeria refused to support
last year’s NATO-backed popular revolt that overthrew Libyan leader Moammar
Qaddafi. Algeria has since granted refuge to Mr. Qaddafi’s wife Safiya and his
daughter Aisha. One of his sons, Hannibal, is also believed to be in Algeria. Libya
apologized last month after hundreds of Libyan fans surrounded the Algerian
embassy in Tripoli and rippled the Algerian emblem from the building and burnt
an Algerian flag.

Stadiums
have long been a nucleus of protest in soccer-crazy Algeria. A 2007 diplomatic
cable sent by the US embassy in Algiers and disclosed by Wikileaks linked a
soccer protest in the desert city of Boussaada to demonstrations in the western
port city of Oran sparked by the publication of a highly contentious list of
government housing recipients. The cable warned that “this kind of disturbance
has become commonplace, and appears likely to remain so unless the government
offers diversions other than soccer and improves the quality of life of its
citizens.”

Mass
protests early last year initially suggested that Algeria would join the first
wave of Arab nations whose leaders had been toppled. The government quelled the
unrest by hiking salaries and social spending on the back of its oil and gas
revenues that have enabled it to build up foreign reserves in excess of $186
billion.

The government also benefittd from the fact that many Algerians, who
vividly recall the violence of the 1990s that left some 100,000 people dead,
have become cautious because of the chaos in post-Qaddafi Libya and the civil
war in Syria.

As a
result, a tacit understanding has emerged between Algerian soccer fans and
security forces that football supporters could express their grievances as long
as did so within the confines of the stadiums. The recent incidents underline
the fragility of the understanding and have aroused fears that protests could
at any time spill back into the streets of Algiers and other cities.

Discontent
over lack of water, housing, electricity, jobs and salaries pervades the
country, sparking almost daily protests inside and outside the stadiums and clashes
with security forces. A quarter of the Algerian population lives under the
poverty line and unemployment is rampant. More than 70 percent of Algeria's 37
million people are under 30 and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) puts
youth unemployment at 21 percent. Protests earlier this year in Laghouat and
other oil and gas cities, symbolic of simmering discontent, have gone viral in
social media. Soccer matches were suspended during last year’s mass protests
and again during legislative elections in May of this year.

“In a
context of political closure, a lack of serious political debates and projects
for society and of a weakened political society, football stadia become one of
the few occasions for the youth to gather, to feel a sense of belonging (for 90
minutes at least), to express their frustrations over their socio-economic
condition, to mock the symbol of the state’s authority and to transgress the
boundary of (imposed) political order and institutionalized language, or the
narrative of the state’s political and moral legitimacy,” cautioned Algerian
soccer scholar Mahfoud Amara in a book, ‘Sport, Politics and Society in the
Arab World,’ published earlier this year.

Just how
close discontent is to the breaking point is likely to become clear in the
coming months as the government, apparently convinced that it has gained the
upper hand, prepares to cut back on social spending that helped restore order.
The government’s draft budget for next year envisions an 11.2 percent cutback,
according to documents seen by Reuters. The news agency said the budget was
based on the assumption that oil prices would average $90 a barrel rather than
the $100 that Algeria, according to the IMF, needs to balance its books. Oil
accounts for 60 percent of government revenues.

Algeria’s
fragility is reinforced by its political uncertainty. With 75-year old Algerian
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika ill and unlikely to run for a fourth term, it
remains unclear who in the country’s dying leadership that consists of men in
their seventies and eighties will take over after presidential elections
scheduled for 2014. Twoof the country's past presidents, 96-year old Ahmed
Ben Bella and 82-year old Chadli Benjedid, have already died this year. “Bouteflika
is in love with his throne, he wants another term," is a popular anti-government
chant in stadiums despite the reports that the president will withdraw after
his current term.

The sense
that the government feels confident and may if necessary opt for strong arm
tactics rather than reform was reinforced earlier this year when General Bachir
Tartag was recalled from retirement to head the Directorate for Internal
Security (DSI). Gen. Tartag, who is believed to be in his sixties, made a name
for himself during the civil war against the Islamists in the 1990s as one of
Algeria’s most notorious hardliners and a brutal military commander.

The
appointment positions him as a potential successor to aging Algerian spy chief
Gen. Gen. Mohamed ‘Tewfik’ Mediene, widely viewed as the number two within the
Algerian regime. Algeria has moreover recently adopted a number of laws that
emphasize security rather than reform and impose restrictions on the media,
associations and political parties, which according to Amnesty International
violate international conventions signed by Algeria.

James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam
School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in
Singapore and the author of the blog, The Turbulent World of Middle East
Soccer.

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James M DorseyWelcome to The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer by James M. Dorsey, a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Soccer in the Middle East and North Africa is played as much on as off the pitch. Stadiums are a symbol of the battle for political freedom; economic opportunity; ethnic, religious and national identity; and gender rights. Alongside the mosque, the stadium was until the Arab revolt erupted in late 2010 the only alternative public space for venting pent-up anger and frustration. It was the training ground in countries like Egypt and Tunisia where militant fans prepared for a day in which their organization and street battle experience would serve them in the showdown with autocratic rulers. Soccer has its own unique thrill – a high-stakes game of cat and mouse between militants and security forces and a struggle for a trophy grander than the FIFA World Cup: the future of a region. This blog explores the role of soccer at a time of transition from autocratic rule to a more open society. It also features James’s daily political comment on the region’s developments. Contact: incoherentblog@gmail.comView my complete profile